Today we are having safety bars installed...
...in the bathroom and through the hall. All, I think, but one will be installed today before my mother arises. We've postponed the nurses visit so that we can get these in. I know, I know, this is something we should have done some time ago. The absolute necessity of the bars happened yesterday, when my mother's incredible grip and arm strength pulled the towel rack, which we've been using for ages successfully, from its sockets, yesterday. She wasn't hurt. Nor was I (I was holding onto her, at the time). Here is a rundown of the incident.
    In case you've not ever run across this necessity but expect it to appear in your future, you might be interested to know that "handicapped" grab bars are, astonishingly, not manufactured to fit from stud to stud, in most cases. This is the primary reason why bars are often installed on the diagonal. I discussed this with the Construction Man we've hired to put in the bars. He was the one who brought it up, when I mentioned my concern that my mother has, in the past, not been handy with diagonal bars and, at this point I am more than reluctant to expect her to adjust to something which has always felt unnatural to her. We are solving the problem, in part, by installing two bars here and there where, if handicapped bars were made for normal houses, one would do. In once case, we are having the Construction Company make a bar to fit.
    So, my mother will no doubt be delighted to know, I am going to let her sleep in until the bathroom bars are installed. This probably won't be much past her 12-hour-sleep-mark, but she always appreciates extra sleep, no matter how little or how much.
    I'm relieved to be having this done. Although I trusted the current arrangement enough to rarely think about it, I also always autonomically braced myself for a possible malfunction in the bathroom. Luckily, our bathroom is so small and close and I am always so THERE with my mother (in the bathroom or out) that the malfunction that finally occurred didn't throw us. But, you know, it's time, finally, to do something about this. Last night wasn't really much of a problem without the usual support, but I'm looking forward to being able to relax a bit more and use my body a bit less in the bathroom with my mother, now.

    An interesting "sidebar" (excuse the pun, which is intended: The Construction Man (who is one of two owners of the company) told me that he and his brother (the other owner) briefly considered devising, manufacturing and selling support bars to fit existing studs (which are pretty uniform throughout building construction, even going decades back). Upon researching the possibility they discovered why no one else has leapt to fill this obvious need: Aside from the patenting process, with which they were prepared to deal, a variety of other government agencies are required to be involved for "safety" and "certification" purposes. In fact, one of the bars, the one that the company will be making for us, will neither be certified nor is it regulated, but it is exactly what we need.
    As well, our Construction Man told us that the companies who manufacture and distribute these bars will tell you flat out that installing them during the construction of a building is the preferred method because of their "off-stud" size.
    "But," I said, "I would guess that this hardly ever happens! How many people build custom homes when they are at the age where they anticipate needing support in their elderly years?!?"
    "Exactly," he confirmed. "Although we build homes, too, and have built a few with stuff like this installed, almost all our grab bar business in in existing homes." He also told me that, although there is a "trend" toward building homes that already have supports like this installed, it is not a healthy trend and these houses don't sell as well or as quickly as homes without pre-installed support devices. "I think," he added, "most people, when they're buying a home, aren't interested in thinking about what they're going to need when they are old enough to need support to get around. It's probably a turn-off. I built the home for my family and I didn't think about this, at all."
    Although "The Media" is trying hard to turn the public's head about this dilemma in regard to buying houses already fitted for future support needs, truth is, you can't fight human nature. What I find curious to contemplate is that the support device industry, at least in this country, completely ignored the basics of building construction when designing support bars in the first place. I mean, it certainly wasn't a conspiracy...it was simply a lack of foresight and competent construction thought.
    Later.
- posted by Gail Rae @ 10:48   email  this post